“He rolled up with his guitar on his back and his Fender Deluxe in his right hand”: Mark Lettieri on his jams with John Mayer, and how they ended up working together on one of the biggest PRS shows in history

Mark Lettieri and John Mayer .

At NAMM 2025, PRS Guitars celebrated its 40th anniversary with a bumper live show that brought a score of its biggest players together, and Mark Lettieri was the impromptu glue that held it all together.

Paul Reed Smith founded the Maryland company in 1985 after unsuccessfully trying to sell his designs to Kramer and Yamaha. Despite Al Di Meola helping with his sales pitches, they all said no, and he decided to go solo.